Amen. All right. It's great to be here with you all. Happy anniversary to Faith
Forward Baptist Church of Tucson. Thank you, Brother Corbin, for inviting me to come out
here and thank you, Pastor Anderson. Excited to be here. I like what you've done with the
place, Brother Corbin. I know that the pulpit was there before and now it's here. And even
the pulpits changed a little bit. You got a little strip here so my Bible doesn't fall
and change the camera angles and whatnot. So it's looking good. Again, thank you and happy
anniversary. Look down at your Bibles at Revelation chapter 20 and verse number four,
it says, And I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them.
And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of
God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark
upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reign with Christ 1000 years. And
what I want to preach on this evening is the subject of the millennial reign in light of
salvation. The millennial reign in light of salvation. Now, when it comes to the subject
of the millennial reign, this is a pretty important topic in the Bible. And I would even
say that the millennial reign is a subject that's near and dear to the hearts of a lot
of Christians. And I'm explaining to you why in just a bit. But first and foremost,
what is the 1000 year reign? Well, to just give you a concise definition of what it is,
it's basically when Jesus Christ, you know, physically comes down to this earth to rule
and reign here in this world for a period of 1000 years prior to the new heaven and the new
earth. Now, we understand that Jesus Christ today is king of kings, and he's Lord of lords,
right? But here's the thing is that his rule extends spiritually, but doesn't necessarily
permeate governments right now. It doesn't permeate society. You know, right now it's
more of a spiritual type of a reigning. It's not necessarily within government, but there's going
to come a time in the future where his rule is going to permeate society and it is going
to permeate the government. And in fact, the Bible specifically says that the government
shall be upon his shoulders, right? And this is what the Bible tells us in the
book of Revelation, that the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and
of his Christ. This is when the entire world is just subject to Jesus Christ. He's the king of
this world. He basically rules and reigns physically on this earth. Now, today we don't
have that, right? Today we have rulers and governments and wicked people in high places,
principalities and powers, but one day Jesus Christ is just going to fix all that and he's
going to rule and reign here on this earth. Now, here's the thing is that aside from the
fact that he's going to be ruling, you know, we're going to be ruling as well.
You know, the Bible says that believers are going to be ruling and reigning with Christ
and this is why I believe that, you know, the topic of the millennial reign is so important
to believers is because it gives us something to look forward to, right? You know, if you think
about why is it that you do the things that you do, you know, why is it that we go out and
preach the gospel and see people saved and we read our Bibles and we turn many to righteousness,
we disciple people, we try to, you know, teach people how to repent of their sins,
clean up their lives. Why is it that we allow ourselves to be reviled and persecuted or when
we're going through a difficult time, why don't we quit? Why don't we get out of church?
I'll tell you why, because we know that there's an exceeding great reward awaiting us in the
life to come, right? You know, the Bible tells us that we are heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ if so be that we suffer with him. You know, the Bible tells us that, you know,
this is a faithful saying, if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him,
if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him. This concept of reigning on this earth is
constantly reiterated throughout the Bible, more specifically, the New Testament. And really,
it works like an underlying motive for us only second to the love of Christ for us to keep
going and fighting and learning and winning people to Christ because we know that this day is
coming. It's in the future, but it is coming. You know, you think about one of the most
famous parables in the Bible, which is the parable of the talents. You know,
the good and faithful steward is given the reward of having dominion over 10 cities,
over five cities, I believe that that's referring to the millennial reign, right? And also,
if you think about it, you know, the millennial reign is one of those things that
basically helps us to determine what decisions we make here on this earth. You know, when you're
going through a tough time and you're struggling to pay the bills, what does the Bible tell you
to do? It says, seek ye first what? The kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things
shall be added unto you. You know, thinking about the millennial reign makes you content
with the things that you have today, makes you content with the food and raiment that you
have today, knowing of a surety that one day you will experience exceeding great riches
in the life to come. So it gives us something to look forward to. It's a wonderful thing.
Okay. And you know, the millennial reign, the thousand year reign is really that time
when Jesus Christ begins to distribute the rewards of dominion, having dominion over different parts of
the world. And so I'm looking forward to it. I don't know about you, but I'm definitely looking
forward to the millennial reign. It's going to be a great, great day. Now, tonight, I want to
talk about really the symbolic nature of the millennial reign. You know, when we think about
the events that take place at the end of the book of Revelation, whether that's the millennial
reign, Armageddon, the millennial reign, the new heaven, new earth, these are literal events that
are going to take place, right? These are literal events. But here's the thing. You know,
the Bible is so intricate, it's so layered and is written in such a way by God that there's
many applications to it. You know, we can interpret that as being a literal event that's
going to take place, which it is, but there's a lot of other different meanings that are
represented here. And that's what I want to go over this evening. I want to talk about the
millennial reign in light of our salvation. We're going to draw some parallels tonight.
You know, I was thinking about what kind of sermon should I preach tonight, and I thought to
myself, you know, this is a well-fed flock, and so I just want to preach a fun sermon, okay? And
a fun sermon for me is just when we look at the Bible, we draw parallels, and we see things
that maybe we didn't see before, and it really gives us something to look forward to, right?
So go with me, if you would, to Romans chapter number seven. Romans chapter number seven.
When you think about the millennial reign, prior to that, you know, the earth has been just
completely decimated, right? Because you have the seven trumpets and the seven vials,
and God is just destroying this world. It's not until the millennial reign when Jesus Christ
comes, you know, the saints rule with them, begin to reconstruct this world, and then you
have the new heaven and new earth thereafter a thousand years after that everything begins
to change. So what I want to do tonight is really draw a parallel between the earth
and a person, okay? And I'm gonna explain to you what I mean in just a bit. Think about this,
you know, when the earth was created, it was created perfect, was it not? You know,
you think about Genesis 1 31 says, and God saw everything that he had made, and behold,
it was very good. You know, there wasn't any sin, there wasn't any transgressions going on,
everything was just completely perfect, and God said it was very good. Well, you know what,
a human being somewhat starts off the same way, does he not? When a baby is born, he has a living
spirit. You know, we're not Catholics that believe that babies have original sin, right?
Where they want to say that a baby has original sin, and that's why you got to baptize the
baby, because of the fact that when you baptize them, you wash away their original sins.
That's such a wicked teaching, because what they're really saying is that if that baby
doesn't get baptized, and that baby dies, it's going to go to hell. That is a false doctrine.
Every human being that is born on this earth starts off with the living spirit,
and you know what, there's a branch off of that false doctrine called Calvinism, right?
And Calvinism teaches, well, there's certain people who are elect, and there are others
that are just completely reprobate from the beginning, you know, they start off that way.
And here's the thing, one of the things that I ask Calvinists is this, so does that
mean that if a baby is not elect, and that baby dies, does it go to hell? And they'll
beat around the bush, you know, they'll tip tool around the tulips, and they don't want to answer,
but that's what they believe. They believe if that baby dies, if it's not elected,
that it's going to go to hell. We don't believe that. Every child that is born
starts off with a living spirit, right? And you know, that's how the world started off.
It was living, it was vibrant. It wasn't until Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil that the decline of creation began, right? You have everything going into decline
after that. The world begins to go into decline. The world is cursed thereafter.
Look at Romans chapter number seven. Let's look at the parallel here. It says in verse number nine,
for I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I
died. The commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death, for sin taken
occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by it slew me. So when a human being is born,
they're born with the living spirit, it's not until they violate the commands of God,
and they recognize that, then now they are dead spiritually speaking. And the same thing with
the world. The world started off perfect, but once that transgression came by the hands of Eve,
by the hands of Adam, it's at that point that the world began to go into a decline.
Go to Galatians chapter number three. We see that the earth started off perfect. After eating of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil, it falls under a curse. The Bible says in Genesis chapter
three verse 17, and unto Adam he said, because thou was hearkened unto the voice of thy wife,
and as eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying thou shall not eat of it,
cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
Look at Galatians chapter three and verse 13 says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. So when we look at the current state of this world, it's cursed. It's completely
corrupt. It's cursed. It's on a decline. It just completely, it wasn't what it used to be,
right? And it's because of the curse that came upon this world. Now go to Revelation chapter 19,
Revelation chapter 19. I'm going to read to you from Romans chapter number eight.
So we see that it started off perfect. After the transgression, it became cursed. And the
Bible says in Romans chapter number eight in verse number 19, for the earnest expectation of
the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope,
because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also,
which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption to wit the redemptions of our body. You know, what this is referring
to is the fact that, you know, a Christian who is serving God, because we still have that flesh,
we groan within ourselves, do we not? We groan over the fact that we still sin against God.
We love the Lord, but sometimes we just don't walk up rightly. We sometimes are in the flesh,
and there's a constant war happening. And what does that do? That causes us to groan inside.
And it causes us to say, man, I'm waiting for that redemption of my body.
I can't wait till sin is just completely absent of my life, where I can just serve God,
you know, just perfectly, and not have to struggle with the flesh, right?
Well, in that matter, the world is almost in the same manner, where the creation groaneth.
Why? Because there is that one point where the world was perfect, and now it is not.
So we see the world being perfect, through the transgression, it became cursed,
and that's where we are today. So what is the answer? Well, if you think about it,
when Jesus Christ comes in Revelation chapter 19, He comes and really dramatically changes
everything, does He not? Because the curse continues from that time, all the way up until
Revelation 19, right? At the establishment of the millennial reign. Look what it says in
Revelation 19 verse 11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold, the white horse and he
that sat upon him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness, he doth judge and
make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns.
And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a
vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God. And the armies which
were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations,
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treaded the winepress of the fierceness
and wrath of Almighty God. Now what does this refer to? We see this according to Revelation 16,
16 as being what? The battle of Armageddon. This is one of the greatest wars that this world
will ever know, right? Aside from the battle of Gog and Magog later on. This is the battle
of Armageddon. Jesus Christ comes on a white horse to wage war against the Antichrist, his
false prophet, and the the armies, right? And we see how we know how it ends. He just
completely destroys them. He destroys them with the brightness of his coming.
So he's going to war, listen to this, he's going to war with the principalities and
the powers of this world, right? Destroys them, cast them into the lake of fire,
and then what do we see? We see him establishing his millennial reign and he's basically triumphant,
right? So he overcomes the principalities and the powers, he establishes his kingdom,
and now he is triumphant. Now what can this be compared to when it comes to our salvation?
Well think about this, you know, when Jesus Christ came and was crucified on the cross,
he basically destroyed, you know, he basically thwarted the plans of Satan, right?
But not only that, think about this, in Colossians chapter 2, when talking about
the crucifixion, it says this, it says that, you know, he blotted out the handwriting of
ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, nailing them to the cross, and listen to
this, and spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them openly and what?
Triumphing over them in it, the Bible says. You know, he got that victory when he was
crucified on the cross. Now obviously in Colossians chapter 2, the interpretation there
is referring to the meats, drinks, and divers, washings, carnal ordinances that were imposed
upon them until what? The time of the reformation. So in the Old Testament, they were to adhere to
these ordinances, these ceremonial laws, but those things were done away when Jesus Christ
was crucified on the cross. Why? Because he became the fulfillment of those things,
he made a show of them openly, and he brought in the reformation. In other words,
the new covenant, he's the better mediator established upon better promises of the better
covenant, right? Well think about this, you know, when the millennial reign starts,
what is it? It's a reformation. He's changing everything completely. Why? Because prior to that,
you have what's called the new world order. The one world government, the one world financial system,
and the one world religion, and what does Jesus do? He just comes and just decimates it all,
right? And he brings in what we can call a reformation, a complete change to something
that's way better, right? So we see that there in Revelation chapter 19.
Now go to Romans chapter number six, if you would, Romans chapter number six.
So it's corrupt at this time, but Jesus Christ comes and he just fixes everything by just
destroying the Antichrist, the false prophet, his armies, he cast them into the lake of fire,
and now he's ruling and reigning. You know, this is what it's referring to when he talks
about being the only potent hit, right? He's the only king. He's ruling and reigning on this earth.
Now this is what I want to submit to you today, okay? That the millennial reign
is symbolic of the salvation of our souls. Now why is that? Well think about this,
you know, you have the earth and Jesus Christ comes to dwell upon the earth, right? He's
there on this earth, physically speaking, and what does the Bible say when we get saved?
It tells us that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, right? The Bible talks about Christ in
us, the hope of glory, okay? But here's the thing, let me ask you this. When the millennial
reign is established and Jesus Christ is there, are there any unsafe people on the earth
at that time? There is, right? Sin is still there, correct? Death is still present, correct?
So just because Jesus is there, it doesn't mean that that goes away. You still have the old man.
So on earth you have the new man, Jesus Christ, but you also have the old man because there's
people that survive the wrath of God, you know, they're off grid somewhere, you know, they're
the ones that they've been there since the coronavirus. They're just running away, you know,
they open up their bunker and they come into the millennial reign.
You have the old man still there. You still have death. Well, you know what? When it comes to
salvation, it's the same exact thing, is it not? When we get saved, we have that new man living
within us, but guess what? It's not absent, the body's not absent of the flesh, the old man.
Sin is still present. Now here's what's funny is I preached this about a couple months ago
and someone contacted me and said, Pastor Mejia, you're way off. There is no unsafe people in
the millennial reign. Jesus is there. If Jesus is there, there can't be any sin.
There can't be any unsafe person. It's like, what are you talking about?
Folks, read the accounts in Isaiah. People are dying. Animals are still dying. I mean,
this is, it's obvious according to the Bible, there's still unsafe, unsafe people in the
millennial reign. But isn't it funny that that's exactly what people say about salvation?
Don't they say, how can you say, what do you mean you can still sin? You have the new man.
All things are passed away. Behold, all things have become old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new, you know, and they try to make it seem as though, hey,
now that you have Christ in you, the hope of glory, how can you say you can still sin?
You know, you should always want to do right. How can you say, you know,
if you've repented of your sin, you should not be even tempted to sin. This is not
your sin. You should not be even tempted to sin. This is nonsense folks,
because we even have a symbolic representation of this on this earth during the millennial reign,
when Jesus himself in bodily form is here and people are still sinning.
So look, if when people are there, or excuse me, when Jesus is there on the millennial
reign and people are still sitting, how much more us who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within
us, we're still going to sin. Why? Because we have this corruptible body.
And isn't the earth referred to as being corruptible? It's corrupt, right? And it's
still corruptible during that time, you know, but people want to teach this deliverance doctrine
and say, no, no, no, Pastor Mejia, once you get saved, you're never going to want to sin.
You're always going to do right, batteries included, you know, and what this is,
it's just another works based salvation. You can wrap it however you want to do it.
It's still a workspace salvation. Well, you know, you know, it's by faith,
but you got to make sure that you keep God's commandments.
Folks, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Well, yeah, I believe that. But it's by faith and you got to have the works to go along
with it, though. You know, not by works of righteousness, the Bible says.
To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Okay, yeah, but you know, you have to make sure that,
you know, it is by baptism, though. You have to believe in Jesus, but it's by baptism,
you know, this baptismal regeneration nonsense. Folks, not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing and regeneration
of renewing of the Holy Ghost. But people want to teach, well, you have to get baptized in order
to be saved. You got to make sure that you wash away your sins. Hold on a second. So does that
mean like I got to get baptized like every single day? Because don't we sin every single day?
So when is the next time? Like, how does that work? What intervals am I supposed to be
getting baptized in because we sin every single day? Look, folks, we have enough examples in
the Bible where it teaches us, look, we have the thief on the cross who, when he got saved,
didn't get baptized, he had a little bit of a hard time getting down from the cross to get baptized,
right? Hey, we have Philip the Evangelist, who specifically taught, right? He goes to the
Ethiopian eunuch, and he tells the Ethiopian eunuch tells him, you know, here's water,
what does Henry be baptized? And he says, If thou believeth, with all thine heart thou mayest.
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and they both got baptized. Philip the Evangelist
said it. Great example, right? I told Pastor Anderson that would insert Philip the Evangelist
in my sermon somehow. Check. It's a stretch, but it's still biblical. It's a stretch,
but it's still biblical. It's a stretch, but it's not a tear, okay?
So we see that the new man, Jesus Christ, is here on this earth, but it's not absent of the
old man. There's still people that are sinning, doing wrong. Now here's the thing is that,
when it comes to the millennial reign, Jesus Christ just subjugates the people perfectly,
though. He has a perfect government, like no one gets away with any crimes
when he's ruling and reigning. Unfortunately, that's not the same for us, right?
It's hard for us to rule our bodies all the time, but look what it says in Romans
6 verse 12. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in
the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin,
but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as
instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are
not under the law, but under grace. So the Bible tells us that when we get saved, we have
the new man, and now we have the responsibility to try to subjugate the inhabitants, the members
of our body, right? You think of the Old Testament, where God would say, hey, make sure
you take out all these people, all these inhabitants of the land, because if you don't,
there are going to be thorns in your sides, you know, pricks in your eyes, and thorns in
your sides. That's like a picture of the flesh. If you don't take care of those bad habits
and those sinful habits, eventually they're going to come back to bite you and destroy you,
right? This is why the Bible says that we shouldn't let sin reign in our mortal bodies,
make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof, the Bible says, okay? So we
shouldn't let the inhabitants of this land reign over us. We need to make sure, you know,
the Bible tells us that we need to keep the word of God in our hearts, that word of
a hand in my heart that I may not sin against thee, the Bible says. You know, we got to
constantly use the word of God and use the instructions of God's word in order to live a
holy life, a life that's pleasing unto God. Now, I believe that during the millennial reign,
the laws of God are going to be reenacted again. Amen.
Sodomites are going to be put to death. I mean, we look forward to that day.
You know, kidnappers, pedophiles, murderers. I mean, you know, it's going to be a great day
because justice will be served. The laws of God are going to be there. Go to Colossians
chapter number three, if you would. Colossians chapter number three.
I don't care what people say about the death penalty. Oh, that's inhumane. And how can you
say people to be put to death? That's what God says. That's God's remedy for specific crimes
that people do. And you know what? They that sin rebuke before all that others may fear.
When you enact God's law, you put people to death, it causes others to fear. The Bible says
Israel will hear and fear, right? Well, here's the thing. If in the millennial reign, you have
Jesus Christ and us as well, you know, putting forth these laws and you have some pedophile
or you have an adulterer or some murderer commit this crime, the Bible says that they
will be put to death. That member will be put to death, right? Well, look at Colossians chapter
three, verse number four says, when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also
appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence and covetousness, which is
idolatry, for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.
What does that mean to mortify means to kill? And he's saying, look, one of the things that
we have to do while we're on this earth is we need to mortify the members of our body which
are upon the earth. Okay, now this isn't referring to like a physical mortification,
obviously. It's referring spiritually, right? We need to make sure that we're repenting of our
sins, that we're getting our hearts right, that we're living a life that's pleasing unto him.
That's what it's referring to there. Go to Revelation chapter 20.
Go back to Revelation chapter 20, if you would. And look, this is why it's important that we
walk in the spirit so that we don't fulfill the lust of the flesh. The flesh lusts against the
spirit, the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary to one to the other, so that you
cannot do the things that you would, okay? And look, at the millennial reign, the new man,
us, when we are completely just the new man, we're under grace at that point, right?
Completely under grace. And who's under the law? The old man. Just as today, the old man is under
that law, right? But this battle continues to ensue. And look, that's why it's important that
you stay in church, right? And you know, obviously coming to church, if you come to
church and you just don't apply anything to your life that you're listening to from the pulpit,
it's not going to do you any good. When we talk about coming to church, I mean,
it means being involved, you know, taking the preaching to heart, applying the preaching
of God's word, it'll help you to live a life that's pleasing unto God. You know, the way
I've always measured spiritual success in the life of a person or in my life personally
is by my church attendance. I'll be honest with you. Now, obviously 2020 has been a pretty
crazy year. You know, it's been like the twilight zone, right? That's another thing I needed
to insert. You know, it's been pretty crazy, but you know what? That's not going to be our whole
life though, right? And from a general perspective, you know, we need to recognize
that we always need to be in church. Church is important, folks. And you know, if you're
reading your Bible at home, that's great. If you're serving God on your own, that's great.
But you know what? You need the local New Testament church to reinforce your beliefs.
You need the fellowship of the brethren. Look, preaching and doctrine is great, but you know,
fellowship is just as important because the Bible talks about exhorting one another. You know,
when you are out there in the world, you're working in the world or you're dealing with
worldly people, carnal people, that can wear on you. And you know what helps is when you come
to church and you dwell with believers, like-minded believers, it encourages you. It helps you to
recognize my brethren are also suffering that same temptation. They're also suffering those same
trials. And you know what? When we come to church, it's like an oasis on the midweek service.
It's like an oasis and a breath of fresh air on a Sunday, and it helps me to keep going forward
for God. That's what the church is for. You know, at our church, we, you know, we love
doctrine and we talk about doctrine. I preach and everything, but you know what? One of my
favorite things about the church is this is fellowship. It's a wonderful thing for brethren
to dwell in unity. It's beautiful. I enjoy coming to church and seeing my brethren.
You know, seeing the families and seeing the brethren and having that fellowship,
it encourages me. And look, we need to make sure that we as Christians, we don't forsake
the assembling of ourselves together as the matter of some is. Now, if you're sick, stay home, amen.
By the way, I've had that policy at my church way before coronavirus. We're telling people,
hey, if you're sick, stay home. If you're sick, stay home. And it's just they don't listen
to the announcements. And then they come, their child is like, you know, projectile vomiting.
And then the whole church gets sick after that or something, you know.
Stay home if you're sick or stay home if you're dead, you know, but other than that,
if you have the ability to come to church, come to church because it's necessary.
You know, you've got a great church here. I know some of you are from Tempe,
but there's others here who live in this area, maybe a little further away.
You know, make the effort not just to come for a special day like this.
You know, come on a Sunday, Sunday morning, Sunday night on a Wednesday evening.
Get involved in this church. Back it up. Back up, brother Corbin Russell.
Get involved in the sowing. Hey, get involved in the discipleship
of the people in this church and join yourself to this congregation
and do something great for God. Amen.
So we see here that how does it start? It starts, the world starts off perfect,
but then there's corruption due to, you know, the transgression of the law there.
It's cursed. It remains cursed until Christ comes. He destroys the anti-Christ
and his false prophet and his armies, and he establishes his millennial reign.
And this, of course, is figurative of our salvation. We have the new man
dwelling within us. Well, what happens after that?
Go to Revelation chapter 20. Are you in Revelation chapter 20?
Look at Revelation chapter 20.
This is where we find the great white throne judgment.
It says in verse number, let's skip down to verse number 11.
It says, And I saw a great white throne and in men sat on it from whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.
And the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged out of those things,
which were written in the books according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it.
And death and hell delivered up the dead, which were in them.
And they were judged every man according to their works.
Let me stop right there. So this is the great white throne judgment.
Now, when it comes to our salvation, we're going to keep fighting the flesh until when?
Until we get our glorified bodies, right?
And what is the Bible? How does the Bible define that as when the flesh is just
completely destroyed? We get our glorified bodies.
In first Corinthians 15, it says that death is swallowed up in victory,
referring to our resurrection, right? Well, look out what literally happens to death
here in verse 14 and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death. So what do we see after the millennial reign?
We see that the lake of fire swallows up death.
So the millennial reign is figurative of our salvation because we have the new man
with the old man. But at the white throne judgment, you see that the remainder,
the remnant of the old man, they're cast into the lake of fire.
If they're not saved, you know, if they don't get saved,
they're never going to get saved by that point.
I mean, you've been with Jesus for that long. He's there.
You know, that's why it's so ridiculous when people say,
well, if we could just see Jesus or or you have these people that believe that
the Jews are going to get saved when, you know, he comes back on a white horse,
they say oy vey and they'll believe on him or whatever.
Ridiculous. Did they literally think that if they just see him,
folks, do you remember what the Jews did when Jesus Christ resurrected?
They're like, they're just trying to pay people off.
They're like, well, just change the story real quick. We'll back you up, right?
It's not going to help. You know, it's by faith that they have to believe.
But by this point, if they're not getting saved, they're never going to be saved.
So what happens? They're judged flesh and blush and not inherit the Kingdom of God.
They're cast into the lake of fire along with death.
And that's exactly what happens to us from a figurative standpoint, right?
When we are resurrected, we get our glorified bodies.
Death is swallowed up in victory.
And at that point, we're completely absent of the old man.
We'll never see the old man ever again. And thank God for that. Amen.
Death is swallowed up up in victory.
Let me see here.
1 Corinthians 15, let me read it.
1 Corinthians 15, 25 says, for he must reign.
By the way, 1 Corinthians 15 is the famous chapter of the resurrection.
For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
For he has put all things under his feet.
But when he says all things are put under him,
it is manifest that he is expected, which did put all things under him.
And when all things should be subdued unto him,
then shall the son also himself be subject unto him
that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
So we see here that really we spend a thousand years not just reconstructing this world,
you know, laboring, but really what's being done here is just a sifting of the old man
to the point where at the end, they're just completely done away with.
And at that point, you have only saved people.
Now, this is where we get into Revelation 21, verse one where it says,
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away,
and there was no more sea.
And like, what are we seeing here?
The redemption of the earth, where the old earth is completely done away with.
There's no more sin, no more devil, no more old man.
It's a complete transfiguration of the earth.
And that's the same thing we're going to experience.
We're going to experience a complete transfiguration
where the old man is just completely removed.
Okay, turn with me, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 65,
Isaiah 65, Hebrews 1 10 says,
And now, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the works of thine hands.
They shall perish, but thou remainest,
and they shall all wax old as doth a garment.
And as a vesture shall thou fold them up, and they shall be changed.
But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Look, God is not going to completely remove this earth.
We're not moving to a different planet.
We're staying here.
He's just making it completely new.
He's transfiguring it.
And the same thing with our bodies.
You know, it is sown in corruption.
It is raised in incorruption, the Bible says.
You know, it's like a mustard seed that is sown,
and it comes out this massive tree.
It came from that seed,
but it's something completely different than that which was sown, right?
So this new earth is going to be something completely different
than what we're used to seeing today.
It's going to be wonderful.
It's going to be redeemed is what it's going to be.
Look what it says in Isaiah chapter 65 verse 17,
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth,
and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mine, the Bible says.
Now, here's my last point that I want to make here is this.
Go to Ephesians chapter three, Ephesians chapter three.
You know, the Bible says that the old man,
or should I say the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God.
Neither indeed can be, right?
And it's not until we completely experience the redemptions of our body
that we're going to be filled with the fullness of God,
so to speak, the knowledge of God, right?
It's no, we're no longer going to battle,
man, should I read my Bible today?
Or I don't feel like reading my,
it's like we're always going to want to read the Bible.
You know, by the way, the new man always wants to read the Bible, right?
It's not prompted to read the Bible.
The new man always reads the Bible.
You know, you have people who say,
you know, oh, the spirit prompted me to go talk to this person over there.
You know, you know, or I just, you know, like a whisper in my ear,
like, go talk to him, go talk to that person right there.
And it's just like, just that one person,
like, look, the spirit wants to see everyone saved, right?
The spirit constantly wants to witness,
the spirit wants to read the word of God.
The problem is, is that we're always in and out of the spirit,
into the flesh, in the spirit, in the flesh.
We're constantly going back and forth.
When we're in the spirit, it's just like,
we enjoy the, we delight in the law of God after the inward man.
We want to see people saved, but you know, you say,
well, I don't always want to see people say,
well, it's probably because you're in the flesh,
but that's how everyone is.
And the battle that constantly rages on within us
is that between the flesh and the spirit.
Now, Isaiah chapter 11, verse number nine says,
they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,
referring to that new Jerusalem, okay, when it descends down.
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
Look at Ephesians chapter three, and verse 17 says,
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith,
that ye being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints,
what is the breadth and length and depth and height,
and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now, obviously we're never going to be able to know,
you know, the entire Bible in our lifetime, right?
We're never going to be able to be filled entirely
with the fullness of God, this side of eternity,
but that's something that we should strive for though.
You know, for someone to say,
well, I'm never going to be sinless,
so I'm not going to even try, you know,
to get sin out of my life, that's stupid.
Because here's the thing, the wages of sin is still death.
And better to try, right, to walk in the spirit
and do things that are pleasing to the Lord,
than just completely capitulate to the old man
and suffer the consequences of it, right?
Better to just strive to do that which is right,
and be blessed of God, than to not try at all,
and just completely suffer the consequences
of your transgressions.
You're like, oh man, I just can never get it right,
so I'm just not even going to try.
Okay, then you're just going to die.
Then God's just going to chastise you then,
in order to help you to understand,
hey, correct your ways.
And look folks, God wants us to live holy lives
while we're here on this earth, to strive for it.
That's what pleases Him, amen?
That's what we see there.
Now, I'm going to give you some practical applications
to discernment, because we did a lot of parallels here.
But the main thing I want you to understand is,
or to see here, is how wonderful
the millennial reign is going to be,
and how it pictures our salvation,
and how deep the Bible is, right?
So number one, if you take anything from this,
take this, reinforce our faith in God's omniscience.
So this should reinforce our faith in God's omniscience.
What does that mean?
His omniscience is the fact that He knows everything.
Because we see what happened from the beginning of the earth,
all the way to the very end when it's redeemed,
God knew everything that was going to take place.
So even all this symbolism that we see
and the parallels that we drew,
God knew about that long before it ever even happened, right?
That's why the Bible even says that Jesus Christ,
who's the Lamb of God,
slain before the foundations of the world, His omniscience.
And on a practical level, that helps us day to day
recognize that God knows what's going to happen tomorrow, right?
And it shouldn't cause us to worry.
You know, we live in uncertain times,
and there's difficult times, and it might even get worse.
But you know what?
God knows what's going to happen.
And if God be for us, who could be against us?
The Bible says, be careful for nothing,
but in all things, by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God,
and the peace of God, the passive understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds to Jesus Christ our Lord.
It doesn't say that He's going to fix the problem.
It doesn't say He's going to, you know,
it's going to fix the situation or fix your circumstance.
He just says He's going to give you the peace of God,
the passive understanding.
And look, folks, I'd rather God not fix my circumstance,
but give me the peace to be able to deal with it, right?
Because the peace of God says, well, it's in God's hands.
I can still have joy.
I can still be happy in the Lord.
I can still serve God.
And though, you know, $10,000 fall on my right hand
and on my left, I'm still standing.
I have the peace of God.
That will keep Him in perfect peace
whose mind has stayed on Thee.
So this should reinforce our faith in God's omniscience.
The fact that He just knows everything.
But not only that, this should help us
to seek first the kingdom of God.
Look, the millennial reign is a long time from now, right?
Or it could be, actually, I take that back.
The new heaven and new earth is a long time from now.
Millennial reign can happen, who knows,
within the next 10 years or something.
We don't know.
You know, because it's at the end of Daniel's 70th week, right?
And, you know, we don't know when that's going to take place,
no matter, regardless of what kind of predictions people have made.
But we do know this is coming.
And we need to make sure that we set our affections on things above,
not on the things of this earth.
We need to make sure that we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
You know, when you grow wearisome here on this earth, sojourning here on this earth,
you got to remember this is real.
You know, we're not like the Preterists,
who believe that this is just all symbolic or this already happened, right?
This already took place.
What this is talking about is just Christ is just ruling in our hearts.
I agree with that.
But you know what?
This is literally going to happen, though.
This is literally going to take place.
And it really gives us something to look forward to,
especially when we're going through a tough time.
When you're going through a difficult time, just remember this.
There's a thousand years with Christ coming soon.
Okay, it's coming.
The day when we beat our swords and our spears into plowshares, right?
When we no longer have to war against the flesh, war against the devil,
war against the world.
It's just a thousand years of laboring in our vacation spot,
which is the New Eden Amen.
So I want to encourage you with that.
I hope you enjoyed that.
Happy anniversary and let's pray.